Christmas Angels
by Ramica
Summary: Don sets off to get something t finish Raph's gift, instead he finds his night being taken up by other things, does he regret it? Possibly. A one shot turtle Christmas story.


**Christmas Angels**

**Rated: K+ **Possibly one or two minor swear words.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the teenage mutant ninja turtles.

Christmas had rolled around again, another year almost gone, a new one just waiting to pop in with all kinds of surprises for all of us. It was time of change and renewal, a time when nature sleeps to be reborn in spring. A time for many to be joyful and giving and yet for others it is the exact opposite. Fighting crime the way, I and my brothers often did, we knew that many crimes went up around Christmas holidays - people stealing, people more likely to snap and want to hurt others for what ever reason, be it real or imagined.

The cold weather causing havoc with drivers and often killing those who were homeless and either had no place to go or refused to get in out of the cold even if it was just to warm up with a hot drink. The holidays can bring out the best and worst in everybody no one is ever exempt.

As for me, I love Christmas- all right I admit I don't go all out for it the way Mikey does. I love the smell of fresh baked gingerbread cookies, or the melting taste of a shortbread cookie, or better yet the rich, decadent butter tarts heavy with raisins and syrupy goodness. I love the smell of real pine trees, though we rarely managed to get one for ourselves. The bright red, green and yellow lights added to the normal lights of the city just gave it a more bright and cheerful look. The sight of snow, white and crisp sparkling under lamp posts or the moon in Central Park. Bright colourful packages of many shapes and sizes laid out under a tree, and just the sense of anticipation and longing. It's a good time of year.

I sniffed and laid down a wrench, some tantalizing aroma had drifted in from the kitchen, yes, I admit I kept my door to the lab open at this time of year if _only_ to get an idea of what Mikey might be cooking up next. It could pull me from my work faster than any other time of the year. I looked at my current project, a gift for Raph and I was hoping I could get it done in time, and there were a few things that was giving me problems with it, perhaps now was as good as time as any to take a break. Besides I'd been smelling the aroma for some time and my stomach was starting to growl at me.

I looked around and decided I would have to pick up a few things before I could finish Raph's gift, which meant that I would have to check out the dumpsters behind the computer shops or head down to the dump itself, but since it was cold out, I figured I fuel up first- besides the smells from the kitchen was far too tempting to resist. I quickly tidied up and stashed Raph's gift away before locking up the lab.

I strode out to the kitchen hearing Mike singing a different version of Jingle Bells, one he had heard off some comedy Christmas special from a ventriloquist dummy.

"Jingle bombs, jingle bombs mine blew up today. Dashing through the sand, with the bombs upon my back it's Christmas in Iraq. I got through check point A, but not through checkpoint B, that's when Uncle Sam's men came and shot me Oh, jingle bombs..."

I chuckled, "Are you still singing that one?"

"It's a good song," Mike declared with an emphatic nod of his head, "Here to taste test for me Donno?"

I nodded, "You know it what have you got?" I grinned as I looked at my brother.

"Home made chocolates, peanut brittle and I'm making festive cupcakes." Mike ticked off each item with one finger on his hand. " I also promised Master Splinter some sugar cookies, and fudge."

I didn't question him on his goodies, he was a Master of the culinary skills, even the things he was merely attempting would taste fairly good. I sat down at the table as he served up a small plate with a sample of each of the new goodies. The festive cupcakes seemed to have bits of candy cane sprinkled through with a chocolate mint icing on them.

Mike went over and grabbed a couple of glasses from the cupboard then moved over to the fridge and filled the glasses with egg nog , he then went to a different cupboard and pulled out a spice bottle sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of each of them, before serving one to me.

Raphael came in whistling a soft low tune under his breath. He helped himself to a few treats, "I love the way ya knock yerself out fer all this Mikey."

Mike smiled and gave a casual shrug, "Eh, it's nothin really, besides a lot of my goodies I drop off at shelters during the night. We can't eat everything I make."

"Not even you!" Raph pointed out, " and that's sayin a hell of a lot."

I sat back all of us liked to do little things for the unfortunate around Christmas, we might be bad off but there were others who had it much worse, besides we had food, warmth, family as well as a home and many others in New York couldn't say the same. Mike's way of giving back was donating his home baked goodies to shelters, and to homes where families couldn't afford such treats. I fixed electronic items through the year and did my best to make them look new for donation bins for hampers. Leo usually found one family that he would try to adopt and deliver some treats to small toys for the children, some food and goodies. Raphael, he would help Casey on a few odd jobs all year around and save up money that he would then splurge on one extreme wonderful gift for some child- usually a child who was sick and fighting for their life- he would hear about these cases from April and then use her to find out the kids wish. April, often kicked in extra money that might be needed to make the dream come true.

I finished my treats and went to set the dirty dishes in the sink, "I got to go out for a bit, I need to get something." I told my brothers, "I might be awhile but I have my cell with me in case of trouble," I informed them.

I dressed warmly, in large boots, heavy coat, hat and thick gloves as well as a scarf to pull over my face. I decided to head through Central Park and see the light display they had there, I'd seen it before but enjoyed it none the less, they had numerous lights and animated figures. Normally, it drew large crowds but it was an extremely cold and bitter night.

It was close to midnight and there was a clear sky up above, the snow was well trampled down into paths where people had walked, and I could see the sledding hill, and tiny booths where vendors sold roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate. Here or there I could see what had been snowmen finished, partially finished or broken and snow forts for the ultimate snowball fights. Now it was far too frosty and cold for any of that, not to mention the late hour meant most of the children were in bed.

I saw the lights and smiled as I moved through some of the displays, suddenly I heard a soft sound, it could have been the wind, that was blowing ever so slightly but some instinct told me it wasn't. I turned my head listening, heightening my senses, and realized that all was quiet and peaceful. Yet, still there was something...._something,_ not right.

I tried to do as Master Splinter had taught all of us, and allow my instincts to guide me, to where ever they would lead and I found myself not far from the nativity scene, sitting near the feet of the manger was a tiny bundle of clothes. I walked forward and noticed a young girl sleeping there, she had her hands jammed into the pockets of a tattered thin summer style coat, only sneakers with holes in them on her feet. Her brown hair was a mass of tangles, her face looked dirty and her skin was showing early signs of suffering early stages of frost bite as it was white, waxy looking.

I was not impressed and scooped the child into my arms, shedding my coat to wrap her up in it, though it was far too large on her. Her eye lids fluttered and slowly she opened them, blinking hazily at me, in a half groggy way. Finally, she gave a small grin, "Are you an angel?"

"No, but I'd like to help you." I told her, "Where do you live, where is your mom or dad?"

The little girl whimpered, and shook her head, tears welled up in her eyes and she sniffed, "Daddy's gone to heaven, and mommy's sick. She needs help so I come to ask help from an angel." She declared, "if daddy sees and knows he'd send an angel.I thought the angel be here."

I paused, at first I'd been angry that any parent could hurt or neglect their child, to any extent, but her words about looking for an angel here and the news she gave about her parents told me, that if mom was sick then she might not even know her daughter had slipped away. "Don't you have anyone to look after you?"

"Only mommy. Mommy says that she might get help soon from family dat live far away. But mommy needs help now, she's awful sick and she might go to heaven like daddy." The girl pouted and sniffed and then began to cry, "You sure you not an angel?"

I had things to do but somehow maybe, what I had come across here was far more important, "Maybe I can help your mom, call me Don and what is your name?"

"Mary." She answered through chattering teeth, "You gonna help den you gotta be an angel sent by daddy."

I picked her up and held her close, "Can you show me where you live with your mom?" I asked her, let her think I was an angel, it might work as well as anything and I wanted to take in where the girl lived, see a few things, I could always alert the authorities if I felt Mary would be better off living elsewhere, but if her mom had lost her husband, then Mary might be one of the few things helping her mom get through the day.

It took a while before Mary was able to direct me to her home, it was one of the old brownstone buildings and it didn't look like it was well cared for. Mary took my hand and ran into their apartment that was on the basement floor, I could feel the coldness from outside seeping in, and I shivered a little, as I kicked off my boots. I heard Mary rambling on somewhere else.

"Daddy sended us an angel momma, and now we gonna be cared for."

There was a terrible coughing as a reply, it sounded bad and as I followed the sounds to the source I saw Mary standing by an old broken couch with holes in it, and a lady wrapped in blankets on the couch.

"Da angel is named Don." Mary continued. Her mother glanced up my way, but I could tell from her eyes that she was running a fever, my heightened sense of hearing realized that she was having trouble with breathing.

"This place needs to be warmed up."

Mary's mom shook her head then had a hard coughing fit as she struggled to sit up, "There is no heat, or lights...I couldn't afford it." She groaned, "Can't go to hospital, they'd keep me and Mary would..." She croaked then coughed again.

I scowled, "Hold on you need help." I reached in a belt pouch and withdrew my cell phone contacting my brothers and asking them to come, and bring some things, like my tools, a thermos of hot water, and a few other necessities. "I can probably rig you up some heat and a few lights, but you also need some medicine and my brothers will bring that." I assured her, "Just try and rest."

It wasn't long before my brothers arrived, Mike had made sure to bring a thermos of hot water, and another thermos full of hot soup. He had brought some envelopes to make hot chocolate, and of course a tin of his various treats. Leo assured me that he had brought along the proper herbal medicines to ease the fever, cough and chest problems that were afflicting Mary's mother. Raph had brought my tools and while Mike tended to Mary, and Leo tended to her mother - Raph and I got to work on making sure there was heat and some lights in the apartment.

Leo had gotten Mary's mom to rest peacefully, sleep being the best thing for her, "Well Don with how feverish and all she's been I doubt she will remember us. I'll write out some instructions for her to use the rest of the herbal medicine, it should help her unless the cough has become bad enough to be considered bronchitis or pneumonia."

Raph scowled, "I think we have things better than these two do," He grunted, he looked over on a side table where there was a picture of a young man, holding Mary in one arm and the other wrapped around his wife, "I recognize this guy "he was the one who played hero and tried to stop a bank robber, got shot for his trouble, that was what back around end of August or so."

Leo sighed and looked at the picture himself, " He didn't die right away, he was in critical condition, intensive care for a long time and that would have taken lots of money and large hospital bills. I guess she's fallen behind on things, what was his widow's name, Laurie I think."

I glanced at the picture, "Their first Christmas without him and they don't even have a Christmas tree or, anything..." I muttered as I glanced around.

"We can do something about that can't we?" Mike asked from behind us, " I just finished getting Mary to sleep. We can give them a little food and I have..." he reached into his belt pouch "A few dollars we could buy a little something for them."

I nodded,"We can do something, and we best do it tonight, Christmas is only two days away. I've still have to by pass things so they can have some hot water, but we have a little heat going and a few lights that work, which is better than nothing." I informed the others.

Leo smiled a little, "We can let April know, perhaps she can send something into a TV station about this family in need, but I don't know if there is enough time for anyone to do anything. So, lets do what we can, we still have a few decorations at home that we don't have up. There has to be some things we can still give without taking away from ourselves or anyone else we intended to help."

Raph snorted, "Leo, we don't need our Christmas tree let's give it to them. They need it more and we've done without a tree for many years before. You don't need a tree for Christmas."

Mike looked around the shabby apartment, the two who lived here had probably been forced to move here after money got tight, "I can go see what I can find there are a few stores that are opened all hours at the moment and maybe get a few little gifts for Mary." He suggested, " We don't need our tree, heck Leo can hack off a bit of a tree top in Central Park and we can make that our tree if _we_ really need one."

Leo gave a sour look at Mike, "All right Raph and I will go home and see what we can get to bring back here. Mike you see what you can pick up cheaply at the stores for a gift for the two of them. How much money have you got?"

Mike checked his belt pouches to reveal about five dollars, Leo and Raph gave him what they had and he left with maybe twenty dollars, not a great deal to make a Christmas, but it would be better than what they had.

"Leo before you go, there is a few more small things you can bring from out of my lab," I gave him the code to get in and told him where he could find a few of the electronic gifts and toys I hadn't managed to patch up in time. I told him I had promised Raph one or two items from the five things to give if he needed it for those he wanted to help.

XXX

It was hours later, and dawn would soon arrive, Laurie, had woken up a couple more times but I had given her some more of the herbal teas and medicines and now she was sleeping, her fever had dropped and though her chest still seemed rattly and congested, she seemed to be breathing perhaps a little easier than when I had first arrived.

The dingy cold apartment had been transformed red, green and gold garland hung tacked up along the walls, cardboard pictures of Santa and reindeer taped to doors, our artificial Christmas tree set up in a corner of the living room with lights and tinsel and ornaments hanging on it, paper snowflakes and origami animals on window sills, on the tables or hidden amongst the tree branches.

There were presents under the tree, the packages wrapped in bright cheerful coloured paper and ribbons, though there wasn't a great deal of them there was at least three gifts for Laurie and Mary. A few large candles were lit in other rooms helping to cast a bit of a cheery glow and on the kitchen table was a poinsettia plant it's dark green leaves and dark red flowers adding a little more colour and cheer.

Leo and Raph had brought back some food, canned soup, pastas, a half dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, some home made jam, peanut butter, a container of sugar, flour, rice, a bag of frozen vegetables, packets of tea, and a small thing of coffee. These small groceries might be a little missed in their home but they still had plenty of food, and all of them had known times of severe hunger, besides all of the turtles knew that Laurie would need to eat well to get better.

We had worked in complete silence, never speaking more than a whisper, if we needed to, for we had not wanted to disturb the mother or child in their sleep, and as Laurie was sleeping on the couch, it meant being extra careful with her. Luckily, ninja skills come in handy for more than just crime fighting.

"We better go Don, we need to get home before it gets light," Leo whispered.

I nodded, "I'll be right there Leo," I assured him, "I want to write a small note to them," I explained. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't happy about it.

"Make it fast than Don," he remarked before hustling my brothers out of the small apartment.

I fished a paper and pen out of my belt pocket and wrote:

_Hoping you and your, daughter Mary, have a wonderful Christmas. I wish we could have given you more than what we have this night, we did what we could, but somehow it just doesn't seem like enough. Take care of yourself, and I wish you both the best of luck._

As I left the apartment, I realized I hadn't gotten the components I needed to finish Raph's gift and that might mean that he may have to wait a little longer for it, unless I could find a suitable substitute for it. In spite, of losing a night on my own agenda, I didn't feel as if my time had been wasted. I had accomplished something, perhaps it wasn't a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but looking after innocent people was more than fighting with criminals.

XXX

**Mary:**

I woke up and smiled, daddy had sent the angels and I knew mommy had to be betteh. I went out and saw the tree and gifts, and all the sparkly pretties everywhere, and mommy was sleepin.

"Mommy, mommy wake up, San'a came early. He came, he came." I jumped up and down and cheered clapping happily.

Mommy woke up and looked about, "Mary? Where, did this...where did it come from?"

"Da Angels mommy. Daddy sent da angels, Don Angel and Raph Angel and Mike Angel...Mike Angel was very funny Mama, he red to me, and Leo Angel. Dey were Chris'mas Angels." I told her.

"Christmas Angels?" Mommy said making a funny face.

"Dey were all green mommy, and Don Angel found me near da Chris'mas lights. Dey were Chris'mas angels," I said and hugged her.

Mommy still was lookin' round kinda funny like but she hugged me back and said I was prob'ly right.

I was right, Daddy sent the angels to the Christmas display to find me and bring me home and then bein' as they were Chris'mas angels they brought us da Chris'mas mommy said we couldn't have this year. Daddy would want us to have Chris'mas, I'm glad daddy sent da angels to us, so mommy and I could have Chris'mas after all.

The End.


End file.
